Mobility startup Skyfly Technologies raises £7.5m led by HICO Investment Group
This article covers Skyfly Technologies, a mobility startup that has raised £7.5m in a seed funding round to take its two-seat Axe electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft from flying prototype to certified production. The funds will support certification, expand teams and manufacturing in the UK and US, and accelerate development of a hybrid unmanned variant aimed at defence and logistics customers, with implications for the short-range electric aircraft sector and UK manufacturing capacity.
Skyfly Technologies, a mobility startup, has raised £7.5m in a seed funding round to take its two-seat Axe electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft from flying prototype to certified production. The cash will fund certification under new US rules, expand teams and manufacturing in the UK and US, and accelerate development of a hybrid unmanned variant aimed at defence and logistics customers.
Why it matters
The round comes at a moment of regulatory change and renewed commercial focus on short-range electric aircraft. In July 2026 the US Federal Aviation Administration rewrote Light Sport Aircraft rules under MOSAIC to admit electric propulsion, multi-motor designs and vertical take-off aircraft into a category geared toward private owners. That creates a clearer certification pathway for light eVTOL designs and a potential consumer market that did not formally exist until now.
For the UK this raise signals continued ambition to build manufacturing and certification expertise locally while also competing for defence and government contracts. Skyfly’s plan to certify the Axe and scale production across the UK and the US ties technology development to jobs and factory capacity at home.
Inside the product
The Axe is a two-seat, vertically capable aircraft that takes off like a helicopter and cruises like an aeroplane. Skyfly says the prototype has flown more than 100 times, completed Europe’s first airfield-to-airfield eVTOL flight and holds experimental flight permits in both the UK and the US. A dedicated US flight test team has been operating since 2025, and the aircraft appeared at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2025 and 2026.
Key performance claims:
- Range: more than 100 miles
- Flight time: 60 to 90 minutes
- Cruising speed: about 100 mph
- Payload: 200 kg
- Running cost: projected around £70 per flying hour, versus roughly £300 per hour for legacy light aircraft such as the Robinson R22 and Cessna 152
- No runway required; airframe is technology-agnostic to accept future battery and motor upgrades and uses advanced composite structures for weight reduction
Skyfly also intends to deliver a hybrid-electric unmanned variant called the Longbow. The Longbow is designed for longer-range missions, with a range of more than 400 miles and a 200 kg payload for roles such as cargo resupply, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, medevac and ship-to-shore logistics. Both Axe and Longbow are planned for manufacture in a 10,000 sq ft facility in the UK, and Skyfly lists 61 private customers on its order book with first deliveries targeted for 2027.
Who are the investors?
The £7.5m seed round was led by HICO Investment Group, with participation from Archangel. The investors will fund certification work, team hires and production capacity in the UK and the US, and support development of the hybrid propulsion system behind the Longbow.
In the announcement, Nicholas Nelson, General Partner at Archangel Ventures, said:
Longbow addresses a clear requirement for unmanned systems that can move meaningful payloads over significant distances without relying on a runway. Archangel invests exclusively in defence-first companies, and our backing of Skyfly reflects the potential we see in its technology to deliver mission necessary capability for the modern battlespace.
In the announcement, Chris Hartnoll, Managing Director at HICO Investment Group, said:
Electrification is revolutionising every industry that moves things, and aviation is next. A simpler electric drivetrain, with fewer moving parts and requiring a fraction of the maintenance, makes aircraft like the Axe practical for private owners for the first time and will enable the Longbow to transform logistics across domains. What Skyfly's team has achieved with so little is remarkable: a new aircraft, designed and built from scratch, flying and now leading the way through a brand-new certification pathway. We're excited to back a team with a big vision and relentless drive to execute.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of mobility venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of mobility angel investors in the UK
Founder perspective
In the announcement, Michael Thompson, CEO at Skyfly Technologies, said:
This investment gives us the resources to take the Axe from a flying prototype to a certified aircraft in customers’ hands. The FAA’s MOSAIC rules have opened a route to market that simply did not exist for electric aircraft before, and the Axe was designed for exactly this category. HICO and Archangel understood that timing, and their backing lets us move at the pace the opportunity demands: completing certification and standing up series production. It also accelerates development and demonstration of the hybrid propulsion technology underpinning our defence products, at a moment when uncrewed aircraft have become central to how nations think about security. We believe the Axe’s range and useful load offer a genuinely unique capability, with a level of simplicity the market has not yet seen.
Thompson’s framing highlights a dual commercial and defence strategy: certify and sell the Axe to private owners and operators while using hybrid propulsion work on Longbow to pursue government and defence customers, including participation in the UK Ministry of Defence’s heavy lift challenge.
The bigger picture
Skyfly’s funding round reflects a broader trend: the combination of evolving regulation, falling battery costs and growing interest in electric and hybrid air mobility is turning prototypes into near-term commercial programmes. The FAA MOSAIC update in the US and parallel certification work in the UK and Europe are making it easier for small manufacturers to pursue private-owner and specialist-government markets rather than waiting for urban air mobility infrastructure.
The deal also underlines growing interest from mobility investors in early eVTOL and hybrid projects that promise lower operating costs and simpler maintenance than legacy light aircraft.
The raise will be watched for what it reveals about certification timelines, production ramp pace and whether UK-based manufacturing can scale to meet both civil and defence demand in the coming years.
They've invested in Skyfly Technologies
Get to know these mobility investors
| Investors | Investment Focus | Startup Investments | Round Size | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 HICO Investment Group( ) | EnergyMobility | |||
 Archangel Ventures( ) | Mobility | |||
| All investors | All investor sectors | All funded startups | All funding rounds |
Click here for a full list of 7,589+ startup investors in the UK